Pakistan Slams India’s Airstrikes as ‘Act of War,’ Downs Five Jets Amid Kashmir Tensions

Escalating tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan reached a boiling point Wednesday as Pakistan labeled India’s airstrikes an act of war, claiming its air force shot down five Indian fighter jets in retaliation. The strikes, dubbed Operation Sindoor by India, targeted nine sites in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Punjab province, which India’s Defense Ministry described as hubs for planning terrorist attacks linked to groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Pakistan’s military reported 26 deaths, including civilians, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif vowed a robust response, signaling no retreat. The strikes follow a deadly April attack in India-controlled Kashmir, where 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, were killed—an assault India attributes to Pakistan-backed militants. Debris from downed Indian jets littered villages, with one crash sparking fires near a school and mosque in Srinagar’s Wuyan village. Residents described massive blasts and skies ablaze, painting a scene of chaos.

India insists its actions were measured, targeting only terrorist camps, not Pakistan’s military. Yet, the fallout—seven civilian deaths from Pakistani shelling and injured Indian pilots recovered from crash sites—underscores the human toll. Both nations’ leaders scrambled into emergency meetings, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi canceling a European trip. As rhetoric hardens and the specter of a nuclear flashpoint looms, the region teeters on edge, with global calls for de-escalation growing louder.